Chapter 76 & 77

 

GH2005.76 Agree to Disagree

Cassidy Corbin follows Scotty Baldwin outside; they walk to the duck
pond in silence. Once they arrive, Scott points to the bench and smiles.
"Ladies first, have a seat."

Smirking, Cassidy shakes her head. "I wasn't the one who took a nasty
spill on the floor. Besides, I was raised to respect my elders; so
please take the bench."

Putting his hands on his hips, he sizes up the young woman in front of
him. Her classic good looks, trim figure, and confident smile are
presently overshadowed by a look of utter annoyance. "Look, let's cut
out the crap, and get straight to the point. You don't like me and you
certainly don't trust my judgement where Luce's concerned. I understand
you probably have some unresolved anger toward me due to what you feel
my actions did to your brother."

Rolling her eyes, she takes a hard look at the man in front of her. "The
lawyer in you is starting to float to the top of the bowl. You were out
of line yelling at Lucy."

"I didn't yell at Luce; she was yelling at me-- when you so rudely
interrupted." Scott crosses his arms and waits for her to respond.

"OK, then you shouldn't get her so upset that she'd yell at you. You're
a very provoking man, Scott. Something you obviously take pride in. I
don't care if it works for you in the courtroom; it's not going to work
here. Lucy needs to stay calm, and you aren't helping. Furthermore, I
really hate the way you treat her. You have no respect for her opinions,
and you constantly second guess her. It's both annoying and rude."

Pacing by the pond, Scott ponders her words for a moment. "So, you find
me provocative and rude. Well, those always were my best qualities. Look
Sweets, I know you care about Lucy, but I was caring about Lucy almost
before you were out of diapers. Your brother never understood our
relationship either. You think I'm being rude or demeaning to her; Luce
knows I'm just talking to her. I don't deny I used to be able to push
her around a little. But I've never intentionally aimed to hurt Lucy,
and I find it pretty damn rude of you to make assumptions about the way
I treat my best friend."

Cassidy shakes her head, and looks at him with a cool glance. "I'm only
stating the obvious. You're the one who treats her like a child."

"I treat her like my best friend and the mother of my child. Look,
bottom line our tension is causing her more unrest than either of us is
comfortable with. If you'd bothered to ask, I would have told you that
Lucy was upset because I insisted Kevin has the right to know what's
happening here."

"Yeah, we all know your track record when it comes to my brother's
welfare. Save it, I'm not some child to pat on the head and send to my
room. Take a long hard look at me Scott, because as long as you're
hanging around like a dog after a bitch in heat, I'll be here to protect
Lucy." Cassidy crosses her arms and watches as Scott glares at her.

"Listen here, Corbin, I don't want Lucy in that way. I want her safe,
happy and healthy. I'm in love with someone else, and luckily she
understands my feelings towards Luce." Scott fights to control his anger
as his own words wash over him. He loves Gina. It'd crept up on him, but
in the heat of the moment, the realization is crystal clear. He loves
Gina.

"Wait, you're honestly telling me you didn't come back to Port Charles
to play house with Lucy?" Shaking her head with disbelief, Cassidy
struggles with his revelations.

Taking a seat on the bench, Scott rests his chin on his hands. "I came
back to Port Charles to win Lucy back. I had realized how much I hurt
her when I took Serena away again without telling her why. You see, I
knew she wasn't going to commit to marrying me. She'd just divorced
Kevin, and was regretting every minute of it. Kevin was always on her
mind even when we were dating again. I've never done well with being
second. So, when it finally hit me that even divorced, she still loved
Kevin more than she could ever care for me, I did the one thing to her
that I knew would hurt as bad as her rejection to me. At the first
threat of trouble with Serena's safety, I left. A couple months later I
called her, but only to tell her that Serena was safe. I'll never be
able to make up for the pain I've caused her... or your brother. But I
can do my damnedest to keep Lucy safe until Kevin returns."

Moved by his honesty, Cassidy takes a seat next to him. "OK, let's say
that I believe you, do you honestly blame me for being uneasy with your
presence in Lucy's life?"

"No, I understand why you're uneasy. It just slaps me in the face, you
know, a reminder of what my past actions have done to other people. We
share one thing, Cassidy. We both want Lucy and her babies to be safe.
Those kids are my daughter's siblings and your nieces or nephews. I may
not agree with Kevin, but one thing I'll give him is his loyalty to
Lucy. He did something for her that I never could, not until now."

Looking deep into his blue eyes, Cassidy asks softly. "What's that?"

Smiling at her, he sighs. "He let her go. When I started to pull her
apart at the seams, he wouldn't play tug of war with me. No, he loved
her enough to give her time to think. I've never been a patient man, and
at the time I just thought his actions proved I loved Lucy more. The one
who pushes the hardest is the one who loves the longest. Stupid, don't
you think? He picked up the pieces when I shattered her life, and all I
can do now is make amends for my past mistakes. Starting with helping
Lucy, and offering her complete access to our daughter, no strings
attached."

"That's why you're letting her stay with Lucy and me. Not as a reason
for you to come by when you feel like it, but to show you trust Lucy's
influence on Serena. Does that mean you trust Kevin's too? He'll be
back. Will Serena still be welcome to visit Lucy and Kev then?" Cassidy
watches as the older man as he closes his eyes for a moment then looks
over at her.

"Lucy is Serena's other mother. The only one around to be a motherly
influence on her. Karen, her big sister, is a combination factor, but
Serena looks to Lucy for that motherly guidance. So, that seems to make
Kevin another father figure. That's hard for me, because the one thing
I am confident of in my life is my ability to parent my children. I lost
out on Karen"s childhood, but I've been a part of her life for years
now. So, for me to accept Kevin as an influence on Serena's life, well
it took some time for me to get used to it. Yes, I trust Kevin with
Serena's life. Serena adores him and I won't ever pull her away from the
people she cares about again. I learned my lesson, and unfortunately, I
cost her precious time with her grandparents that can never be made up
now." Scott leans back on the bench and looks at the pond.

Cassidy is quiet for a moment and then speaks. "I trust my ability to
read people. It's one of my finer skills, and I believe what you've told
me. One thing my father always told me when I was growing up was that
anybody can make mistakes. It happens and you move on. But people who
honestly learn from their mistakes, and do their best to make amends for
them and not make them again, those are the people you want to know in
life. So, I'm willing to give you that chance. I'll work with you,
rather than against you during this mess. Scott, break my trust in you,
and I'll haunt you. I give second chances-- not thirds."

Extending his hand, he shakes hers. "So, we agree to disagree on methods
of protecting Lucy. I can compromise. (He winces as she laughs) So, I
think the best thing we can do now, Is to try and keep Lucy calm and
catch the bastards who are tormenting her."

Rising from the bench, she smiles at him. "Sounds like a plan. I'll
start cruising the net on crime reports in the area.Maybe this won't
turn out to be too long of a case."

GH2005.77 Games People Play

Resting on his bed in the inpatient alcohol treatment clinic, A.J.
Quartermaine speaks into his cell phone. "Right, so you sent the
magazine subscriptions? Excellent, Carly, one more thing, between you
and me of course, have you made that phone call yet?... What paper?...
Yeah, save me a copy of it. Any word on how he reacted?... I'm sure.
How's Gina? ... Great,... no that's my point, Carly. You and I aren't
going to hurt her. It was Cassadine who set me up and hurt Gina, and no
one hurts someone I care about without paying for it... Yeah, you've
been a good friend to both of us. I need to go before they realize I
still have my phone. Bye"

Hanging up his phone, A.J. smiles. "Well, Nikky, how does it feel to
have your well laid plan blow up in your face? Baldwin's moving in
because you couldn't keep your nose out of my marriage. Now, I have to
take care of you both."

Scott paces his law office as he yells into his phone. "I don't give a
damn what the law states. She's being stalked! No, if I knew who was
stalking her, I wouldn't be asking for police protection. Garcia, look,
off the record, can't you arrange for a little protection."

Alex Garcia looks over his police schedule and lets out a frustrated
sigh. "Look Baldwin, I'm doing my best to arrange that, but you, Mac and
Lucky are only distracting me the more you call. Can't you give me a
little time to work something out."

Taking a seat at his desk, Scott groans. "Okay, I won't call you again
today. Get back to me tomorrow."

Garcia laughs into the phone. "I"ll get back to you tonight. Thanks for
the cooperation. I'll go ahead and start a couple of my uniform officers
surveying the lighthouse every hour or so."

"Thanks Garcia, but that won't work. Lucy wants to catch these
sonsobitches-- not scare them off. If you can scare up some
plainclothes cops then call me when it's time for the policeman's ball."
Hanging up the phone, Scott dials the Scorpio house.

"Mac?"

"Hey Scott, I was just about to call Alex again." Mac flips through the
files Felicia handed him earlier. "You know there's something way off
about this. It isn't screaming ex lover or infatuated person."

Placing his feet on his desk, Scott looks out his window. "I was
thinking the same thing. I mean, I know most of Lucy's ex's and none of
them would do something like this. She's a beautiful woman and perhaps
someone is infatuated with her but a roast duck? That's just weird."

"Look, I think I'm going to bring my son in on this. He seems to be
interested in detective work, and we could use all the help we can
muster on this."

"Good and I was thinking we could get Dr. Harmon to do a profile on this
nutcase. Gina and Karen both suggested it. Frank and Joe both offered to
pull shifts watching the place. I looked into the house next to the
lighthouse; I've it rented for the next month." Scott picks up the fax
from the realtor. "Here's the odd thing, someone else expressed interest
in the house. They wanted to rent it for two months. When the realtor
asked for references, they hung up on her."

Mac ponders Scott's statement for a moment. "Common knowledge that when
you rent a place you need references. So, the person probably didn't
leave much info with the realtor then."

"Nope, just offered more money to keep it anonymous. When she told them
she couldn't, they hung up. I don't like this, Mac. It's just Cassidy,
Lucy and Serena over there."

"Not anymore, Lucky moved in today. So, he'll be there at night. He runs
the club 'til late though so taking shifts in the rented house is
probably a good idea. If you, Joe and Frank take turns, maybe it
wouldn't cause too much of a scene. Lucy has a point, if we scare these
people off, she'll never rest easy." Mac smiles at Evan who walks into
the room. "My son just arrived, so I'll fill him in on the situation.
Let me get back to you."

Evan looks at his father curiously as he takes a seat on the couch.
"What's up? Felicia showed up to take Ian shopping and asked me to come
by. Everything okay?"

"With the immediate family, yes, everything's fine. One of my best
friends is being stalked by some unknown individual. You've seemed
interested in my line of work, and I wanted to know if you want to help
out with this?" Mac watches as Evan grins.

"I'm sorry this is happening to your friend, but yeah, I'd love to. I've
been pondering some things lately. Maybe now's a good time to discuss
them with you." Evan pulls out a letter from his back pocket and hands
it to Mac. "This came yesterday. I plan to tell Em tonight. She doesn't
know I applied."

Looking over the letter, Mac smiles broadly. "You got accepted to the
police academy! Congratulations!" He rises from the couch and walks over
to Evan, pulling him from the couch, he embraces him proudly. "I didn't
even know you decided to be a cop."

Laughing, Evan pulls away from his father. "I talked to Alex for awhile
about it. I'd been considering it for a few years. After meeting you,
and listening to your stories and the stories about my Uncle
Robert, I can tell it's in the blood. I asked Garcia not to tell you
until I heard back from the academy. I'm sure my last name had nothing
to do with getting me in-- right?"

Patting him on the back, Mac shakes his head. "I guarantee you, your
name wouldn't have been enough to get you in. I know you'll do a great
job. Emily knows nothing about this?"

Sinking back into the couch, he shakes his head. "Nope, and I'm a little
nervous telling her about it. It's a big change from my attending
college."

Rhonda Wexler knocks on Scotty"s office door and walks in with a
bemused smile. "Scotty, we've known each other for ages right?"

Scott looks up at his secretary and smiles. "Yes, and we share a
brilliant and beautiful daughter, but if you're looking for another
raise-- too bad. I just gave you one."

Laughing, she plops some magazines on his desk. "No, I don't want a
raise, I was just wondering when you started subscribing to STUDS IN
CUFFS at the office. I would've pegged you more for Playboy."

Blushing, Scotty looks down at the magazines and then up at Rhonda. "I
didn't order these! What the hell?"

Katherine sits in the doctor's office listening as Dr. Emma Goldstein
goes over her prenatal check up. "Katherine, we've discussed this
before, your tests still show your cholesterol at an unhealthy level.
Your blood pressure is extremely high, and I am very concerned. If
those levels don't come down you are putting your self at risk for
complications with this pregancy: gestational diabetes, pre-elampsia,
what we used to call toxemia. I want you to spend the next two weeks in
bed. No salty or fatty foods. No high sugar foods, I'll send another
menu home with you. Only leave bed for the approved exercise regime
with your trainer or when absolutely necessary."

Nikolas takes Katherine's hand in his own and smiles at the doctor.
"Thank you Dr. Goldstein. I will pass the menu on to our cook, and I
assure you-- Katherine will follow your instructions to the letter. You
only want what's best for the baby, right honey?"

Blushing, Katherine holds her tongue and squeezes Nikolas' hand. "Of
course. Follow the diet, lots of bed rest. I have the servants to wait
on me, I can consider it a vacation."

They leave the office and once inside the elevator, Nikolas looks at her
firmly. "You have been sneaking snacks. Mrs. Landsbury had already
regulated your diet after the last appointment."

Patting her stomach, Katherine snaps at him. "I get cravings. I'll stop
sneaking snacks. I suppose I won't be able to have my tutoring lessons
anymore. I have to have bed rest."

Reaching the Garage, he leads her to limo and once inside smiles at her.
"The tutors will just meet you in our suite. You can rest and study.
Reese informs me you aren't paying attention. Katherine, you will be
raising the heir to my family. You must take your responsibilities more
seriously. Perhaps a couple extra hours a day, now that you are under
bed rest, will be the best for the baby."

Through gritted teeth, Katherine replies dryly. "Right, whatever's best
for the baby."

Evan bounds into his apartment and grins at Emily. "I have something to
share with you."

"Publisher's clearinghouse has awarded you ten million dollars?" Emily
wraps her arms around his waist and kisses him tenderly. "What do you
have to tell me?"

"I've been accepted into the Police Academy. I start next month." He
rattles off more details as she pulls away from him.

" The Police Academy? When did you apply?"

"A couple months ago. I didn't want to say anything 'til I knew if I'd
been accepted or not. I told Dad earlier; he's so proud. Em, I really
wish you could have been there."

Emily crosses her arms and replies angrily. "I really wish I'd been
there too! I wish you had at least consulted me about this. I accept
Ian, no problem I already love that little boy. I let the fact the only
reason you're with me is because I look just like his mother slide. Now,
you stand there telling me you applied MONTHS ago to the police academy
expecting me to be happy about it, and you don't see a problem? When are
you going to learn that your decisions effect me too? I thought we were
a team!" Grabbing her purse, she walks towards the door.

"Em! Where are you going? I wanted to talk about this." Evan follows her
to the door and watches as she looks him straight in the eye, her voice
wavering with anger.

"NOW you want to talk? You should have wanted to talk before you made a
decision that will effect both out lives. I am going to clear my head. I
will be back... hell-- I don't know when I'll be back. Ian is due to be
wake from his nap soon." Slamming the door in his face, she walks
angrily away from the apartment.

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